André Mba Obame, who has been in a power struggle with Ali Bongo since 2009, returned to Gabon last Saturday. From the moment he landed, André Mba Obame has completely eclipsed Ali Bongo in the people consciousness. It is as if Mba Obame is already president. It is really funny because while not being the president, André Mba Obame is able to completely overshadow Ali Bongo and eclipse him in the eyes of the Gabonese people. Even Ali Bongo's supporters are ashamed of how small he looks next to Mba Obame. This blog reaches the conclusion that this is simply the confirmation that Ali Bongo does not have the stature of a head of state; he is not a statesman.

1. What is a statesman?

The question of "who is a statesman?" has been debated for ages. But most dictionaries tell us that the statesman is one who divines the long future, one who foresees the place of his nation in it, one who labors intelligently to prepare his countrymen for their fate, one who combines courage with discretion, who takes risks, who exercises caution when it is necessary, and who goes off the stage with a reasonable degree of respectability. Actions and accomplishments are important in defining statesmanship, but style and qualities of leadership are also important. A statesman is generally above partisan politics. A statesman takes the long view of things, and tries to consider what is best for his nation. A statesman possesses the power of persuasion, not only to other national and international leaders, but to his own constituency. A statesman can be tough when needed, but never loses his (or her) temper or perspective.

2. Ali Bongo is not a statesman

A statesman is like a lion who roars when his nation or his people need him most. History tells us that Churchill was a statesman, De Gaulle was a statesman, Lumumba was a statesman, Mandela is certainly a statesman. In Gabon, history tells us that people like Leon Mba and Jean-Hilaire Obame and others from that era were statesmen. They were accomplished civil servant. All of these people have a common denominator, one quality that makes them effective; it that as leaders, they had the tremendous ability to inspire people. They had unique strategic insight. They were relentless in their passion for their cause and they had imperturbable personality. Dear readers, you can clearly see that Ali Bongo has none of these attributes. He cannot inspire anyone; no one takes him seriously. This is why Andre Mba Obame is able to easily make Ali Bongo disappear because Andre Mba Obame happens to have a lot more charisma, is more educated and can better inspire people than Ali bongo.

3. In a normal country, a president must have a presence

Because his father ran Gabon as an autocrat with an iron fist for 42 years, Ali Bongo inherited a formidable state apparatus of power, based on a de facto single-party rule since the PDG party has all the resources, repression and intimidation of opponents. But despite these advantages, Ali Bongo is proving to be a very stupid politician and lacking any kind of personal presence and stature. In fact, Ali Bongo, despite being president, has absolutely no stature commensurate with his function. He is a weak president who has to rely increasingly on repression to try to generate any kind of respect, since the Gabonese public only has disdain for him. Despite these shortcomings, Ali Bongo and his family remain uncompromising in their determination to hold on to power. That, dear readers, is the only game in town: power. They know they do not have the qualities to rule Gabon, but they persist in a lie even in the face of evidence to the contrary. They are not embarrassed to be caught in a lie of their supposed popularity, of their supposed “election” by the people. The people want them out, nothing less!

When a president who has been in power for 3 years can be so easily overshadowed by a political adversary as Andre Mba Obame did this past weekend, the only interpretation is that Ali Bongo has virtually no popular support and that it would take very little to throw him out of office.

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